Getting Connected: The Evolution of Linux and Windows E-Mail Integration

Linux Alternatives In an Exchange Environment

March 22, 2002

By
Bill von Hagen

In today's world of tight IT and MIS budgets, saving money and
investing wisely in new infrastructure are words to keep your job
by. Regardless of whether there's a recession, times are tough and
money is tight. Cutting costs while improving performance is therefore
much more than just a good thing or resume fodder - it's almost a
necessity. Hence many people's love affair with Linux - as a free
alternative to many of the tools and infrastructure requirements that
we're all used to (and tasked with) providing, Linux can be a dream
come true to an overworked and underfunded IT staff with the expertise
necessary to support and manage it.

One of the big questions about Linux is whether it can truly provide
all of the services required in today's enterprise. In a previous
piece for LinuxPlanet, I explained that as much as many of us would
like to believe otherwise, Microsoft currently owns the enterprise
infrastructure for today's business environment. Features such as the
calendaring and scheduling provided by the Microsoft Exchange mail
server have become an invisible standard that many people depend on
but do not recognize as being proprietary enhancements to existing
standards. (Perhaps I should have said 'value added solutions - I'm
not sure.)

At any rate, until Linux can provide replacements for the services
that people actually depend on, it's not ready for desktop prime
time. Sure, Linux owns the web server market (yawn), but even in the
most hopelessly buzzword-driven company, there's much more to
infrastructure than just web servers.

A previous piece on LinuxPlanet discussed Bynari Software's
InsightConnector, a sexy Windows-side tool that fools Windows Outlook
mail clients into doing the right thing with open IMAP (Internet Mail
Access Protocol) mail servers. However, the ability to replace
Exchange servers is only half of the compatibility equation. Bynari's
InsightConnector solves Windows client problems. but what about the rest
of us who use other systems (such as, say, Linux or Solaris) on the
desktop, and still need to schedule the occasional meeting or two or
simply see when someone is available? Luckily for us, we are now
seeing the birth of some powerful new mail clients and related add-ons
that can do the right thing, The best known, and currently the best,
of these is Ximian's aptly-named Evolution.